American Idol (season 12)/Background
American Idol Rumors and Pepsi-Coke feud Back in Febuary when Nicki performed "Starships" on American Idol, she joked with Jennifer Lopez about being a judge on American Idol. During an interview after the performance, she was asked if she ever thought about judging and she replied that she didn't think she was up to the task. Ever since then, people speculated that she was going to be a guest judge on American Idol one day. In July 2012, many names were flying around for being a judge on American Idol and Nicki was one of them being one of the top names on their Wish List. In August 2012, an insider close to Nicki anonymously reported that she was close to signing a deal with American Idol. A few days later there was a reported feud between Pepsi and Coke over American Idol's pick for Nicki Minaj as judge. Coke (a long time sponsor of American Idol) was supposedly not happy with the producers pick of Nicki (the face of Pepsi). Apparently, the beef was ended when it was reported that Nicki was in the final stages of her deal and was receiving $8 million and additional money for wardrobe, hair and makeup. Fox still had not reported the deal. Finally on September 16, 2012 after long speculation, Fox confirmed during a press release that Nicki was a judge only a few hours before filming began. Air Dates/Channel 5* Britain's Channel 5 has acquired the U.K. TV rights to the next two seasons of U.S. hit show American Idol, which has previously aired here on ITV2. Channel 5 will air the music competition on its digital network 5*, starting with next year's 12th season. It will premiere here the same week in January during which Fox is scheduled to bring the show back in the U.S. It will premiere on January 13, 2013 in the UK. It will also air in Australia (On "Channel 10"), just hours after the US premiere. Mariah Carey-Nicki Minaj feud A video was leaked to TMZ in October which showed Nicki Minaj erupting in a tirade against Mariah Carey during the audition in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was also claimed that Minaj was heard saying off-camera, "If I had a gun, I would shoot that bitch." Minaj however denied that she had made the threat. Ryan Seacrest said that the dispute "went a little too far", while Keith Urban jokingly said "I was the UN", and the feud elicited a comment from President Barack Obama that Carey and Minaj will "sort it out". In an interview with Barbara Walters on The View aired on January 7, 2013, Mariah Carey said that Minaj's threats made it "felt like an unsafe work environment," and claimed that she had boosted her personal security. Carey also said that she has since made up with Minaj. Carey's husband Nick Cannon claimed that the feud was used by American Idol producers to generate interest and ratings. Producer Nigel Lythgoe however denied that he was responsible for leaking the video or that it was a publicity stunt, and said that he had no plans to use the footage in advance of or during the season. Fox exec Mike Darnell described the buzz due to the feud as being great, but later said that '"a rogue crew member probably took the video and sent it to TMZ. We did not encourage it." The aired episode of the Charlotte audition did not show the tirade and what was shown appeared to have no real linear connection with the leaked footage.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Idol_(season_12) CreatePage